Commentaria in Leviticum
Verse 20. The soul that is defiled (the polluted man) and eateth of the flesh of the peace-offerings, which was offered to the Lord, shall perish out of his people—as if to say: A polluted man, if he dare to eat flesh sacred to God, God avenging, will incur death, either present in this life, or eternal in the future, namely if he did it knowingly: but if he ate ignorantly, he will be expiated by the sacrifice prescribed in chapter 5, verse 3.
Verse 21. And he that shall touch the uncleanness of man—namely excrement and dung: this man, then, as polluted in himself, so also if he touched anything polluted, is barred from eating peace-offerings.
Verse 23. You shall not eat the fat of sheep, nor of oxen, nor of goats,—because these are the three that are immolated to the Lord, wherefore I demand their fat for myself, even if you slay them at home for eating, as is plain from
Verse 24. The fat of a carcass that died of itself, and of that which was taken by a beast, you shall have for divers uses.—He speaks here of the fat of an animal unclean for sacrifice, but clean for eating.
On which note: The animals clean for sacrifice were only the three already mentioned, namely sheep, goat and ox; but the animals clean for eating, besides these three, were seven others, namely the buffalo, the hart, the roe, the tragelaph, the oryx, the pygarg and the camelopard, of which chapter 14. Now of the fat of animals clean for sacrifice, even if they were not sacrificed, it was altogether unlawful to eat, as I said in the preceding verse. But of the fat of the others, which were clean only for eating, if they were carcasses, that is, dead of themselves, or taken and killed by a beast, it was also unlawful to eat, as will appear in chapter 11, verse 39; yet it was lawful to use it for other purposes, as is said here: otherwise it seems to have been lawful to eat their fat, as I said in chapter 3, verse 17. So Abulensis.
Verse 25. If any man eat the fat, which should be offered—namely the fat of goat, sheep and ox, which alone ought to be offered; for it is lawful to offer no others. It is plain from the Hebrew and the Chaldee, which have: If any man shall eat the fat of the beast of which an offering is made before the Lord, he shall be cut off from his people; for the Hebrews could eat no fat of an animal fit for immolation, even if it were not actually immolated; but it all had to be burnt to God, if the animal was slain at Jerusalem, where the temple was, of which Deuteronomy 12:21.
Verse 29. He that slayeth the victim of peace-offerings to the Lord, let him offer therewith a sacrifice, that is, the libations thereof—namely, let him offer the mincha or libation of fine flour, so that thus he may furnish God a full banquet of flesh and fine flour, or bread, as I said in chapter 2.
Verse 30. He shall hold in his hands the fat of the victim, and the breast: and when he hath consecrated both to the Lord (not the priest, but the lay offerer), he shall deliver them to the priest.—For the sacrifice of peace-offerings was more liberal than the others: hence a great part of it fell partly to the priests, partly to the offerers.
The rite of offering the peace-victim was this, as R. Solomon and the Hebrews relate. First, the priest slew the animal and cut it into parts. Second, he took the breast of the slain animal and its fats, and laid them on the hands of the lay offerer. Third, the priest put his own hands under these hands, and with them raised them, presently lowered them; and again drew them across from right to left in the manner of a cross, towards the four quarters of the world, to signify that God is lord of the whole world. This is the rite of tenuphah, of which I spoke on Exodus 29:26. Fourth, he burnt the fat with the kidneys on the altar to God; then the offering priest took for himself the right shoulder and the breast. Lastly he gave back the remaining flesh to the laity offering it, who ate it in the court of the tabernacle. For this eating was the completion and consummation of the peace-sacrifice, just as the receiving of the Eucharist is the consummation of the Eucharistic sacrifice. In like manner any other victim, being sanctified to God, was to be eaten in the court of the temple, as is plain from chapter 6, verse 16, and chapter 7, verse 6. The same is signified by this law and phrase often repeated: “Thou shalt feast before the Lord,” that is, in the court of the temple, as is plain from Deuteronomy 12:18 and 14: for this sacred feast was chiefly made from peace-victims. Hear a clear text on this matter, Deuteronomy 27:7: “Thou shalt immolate peace-victims, and shalt eat there, and shalt feast before the Lord thy God.”
The rite of immolating the peace-victim, by the elevation tenuphah aforesaid, is lifted on high to God), and the shoulder of separation (separated, namely, for God, to be given to the priests in God’s stead) I have given to Aaron the priest and to his sons.—Why of the peace-victim the breast and right shoulder fell to the priest, the symbolic cause was that the breast signifies faith, sound doctrine and prudent wisdom; the shoulder or right arm signifies constant working according to faith and virtue, in both of which the priest ought to shine and instruct the people. So Hesychius, Radulphus, and most aptly Origen, homily 5 at the end, where he says: “What, then, is the priest’s breast, or of what kind? Let it be full of wisdom, full of knowledge, full of all divine understanding, nay full of God: what arm? much solicitude, labour, watchings, by which he converts the sinner, who accordingly offers a saving victim, gives thanks to God: in which victim the breast becomes the priest’s part, as a sign that the breast and heart which thought evil, by the priest’s labour converted, received good thoughts and so was made clean that it can see God; likewise the arm is a sign that he converts his evil works and labour into the right hand, that they may be according to God.” And St. Gregory, Pastoral Care part 2, chapter 3: “By divine law,” he says, “the priest receives the right shoulder in sacrifice and separated, that not only his working may be useful, but singular; nor among the wicked only may he do what is right, but also exceed his well-doing subjects by the virtue of his conduct as he does by the honour of his order; to whom in eating also the breast with the shoulder is given, that what is commanded to be taken from the sacrifice he may say of himself to be immolated, and not only with his heart think what is right, but also invite his spectators to the lofty arm of working: let him desire no prosperity of the present life, fear no adversity.” Nay the Gentile Persius, Satire 2, wishes pontiffs to give to the gods above a well-ordered sense of right and wrong, holy recesses of the mind, and a breast steeped in generous honour.
Verse 35. This is the anointing of Aaron and his sons in the ceremonies of the Lord.—The Hebrew is, of (that is, in, and in means with) the burnt-offerings of the Lord, that is, oblations burnt, or consumed with fire, to the Lord, according to the rite and ceremony prescribed in chapter 6, verse 20, and more fully in Exodus 29. This is the epilogue of all that has gone before.
Verse 36. By a perpetual observance.—The Hebrew has, by a sanction, or perpetual law.
Verse 37. This is the law of the holocaust.—Six kinds of sacrifices already described are enumerated here: namely, first, the holocaust; second, the mincha, or meal sacrifice; third, the sacrifice for sin; fourth, the sacrifice for trespass; fifth, the sacrifice for the consecration of priests; sixth, the peace sacrifice. But, as I said in chapter 2, properly there were only four species of sacrifice: for the sacrifice for trespass is referred to the sacrifice for sin; the sacrifice for the consecration of priests is referred to all: for in it sacrifices of every kind were offered.
Verse 38. Which the Lord appointed to Moses on mount Sinai,—that is, in the mountainous desert, and near the mountain which is properly called Sinai. For that God gave these laws to Moses not on this mountain but in the tabernacle, I said in chapter 1, verse 1.